Calls For ‘Sleeping Beauty’ To Be Banned Because Prince Kisses Princess Without ‘Consent’

A British mother has been criticized after calling for a ban on the fairytale ‘Sleeping Beauty’, arguing that it promotes “inappropriate” sexual behavior.

The London Telegraph reports that the woman, Sarah Hall, took to social media to complain about a book her six year old son brought home from school, depicting a modernized version of the classic story.

Mrs Hall argued that the book should be immediately removed from the school curriculum for young children, tagging her tweet with the hashtags #MeToo #consent which have been used by others recently to relate their experiences of sexual harassment.

In a further statement to local press, Mrs Hall explained her concerns:

“In today’s society, it isn’t appropriate – my son is only six, he absorbs everything he sees, and it isn’t as if I can turn it into a constructive conversation.”

“I don’t think taking Sleeping Beauty books out of circulation completely would be right. I actually think it would be a great resource for older children, you could have a conversation around it, you could talk about consent, and how the Princess might feel.”

“But I’m really concerned about it for younger children, [and]would really welcome a conversation about whether this is suitable material.”

The tale dates back to the 16th century, and in its original form the princess is actually raped by king who discovers her in a state of slumber.

However, there are no traces of this facet of the tale in the modernized version, popularized by Walt Disney, and often told to children.

In the book Mrs Hall’s son brought home, the princess awakes after being kissed by her betrothed prince. A child character states that ‘everyone knows’ this is how to awaken a sleeping princess.

Mrs Hall argued that the tale is “Indicative of how ingrained that kind of behavior is in society. All these small things build up, and they make a difference.”

“I think it’s a specific issue in the Sleeping Beauty story about sexual behavior and consent. It’s about saying is this still relevant, is it appropriate?” she added.

Readers overwhelmingly disagree with Mrs Hall, according to a poll within the article:

The responses on Twitter also seemed to indicate a lot of disagreement with her concerns:

Why dont you ban Snow White and sleeping beauty whilst youre at it? Next time i kiss the misses when i leave the house, ill be sure to wake her up and ask if its okay first, what a ridiculous post

Sorry what??? Sarah it is people like you making issues of situations like this that are the problem. Stop!!! You’re making an issue out of something that was never an issue before!! Ridiculous! Let’s wrap everyone up in cotton wool shall we?

This is getting bloody ridiculous. I never once watched sleeping beauty and thought goodness this is giving the wrong message about consent. Let’s ban Cinderella as well whilst we’re on the matter; poor gender roles and all that.. ffs…

With all due respect, it’s not the school job to educate your son; academically yes, it’s the school job, but it’s your responsibility to ensure he grows with a strong character and a clean conscience. It’s your job to teach your son about sexual behaviours.